Guess the earth's plates have been feeling rather tense lately At least Japan is like China in regards to the fact that they like to be prepared and probably have much better plans for various emergency responses than NZ.

Is there any proof that the regularity of these events is actually increasing though?

I can't recall so many natural disasters/unusual weather conditions occurring in such a short period in my lifetime. Strange that so much of this has been the worst for decades, or since records began.